Background
Sunflower Nature Park is a 57-acre park just south of K-10 Highway near Edgerton Road at 36915 W. 103rd Street. The park currently features a paved one-mile loop trail, a small fishing lake, one picnic shelter, two parking lots, two restroom buildings, and two ball fields adjacent to the nature area. Dedicated in 1984, the park had over 46,000 visitors in 2007.

Planning Process
In April, 2008, a consulting team headed by Bowman Bowman Novick, Inc., of Kansas City, Missouri, was hired to develop a master plan for the park. At a planning workshop at the De Soto Senior Center on June 2, members of the public had an opportunity to review site maps and suggest features they would like to see included in the park's master plan.

A second public workshop was held at the De Soto Senior Center on August 11. The consultants presented the proposed master plans they had developed since the initial workshop for Sunflower Nature Park and the Rieke Lake Future Park Site. Those attending the workshop had an opportunity to review and comment on the plans for both properties.

Revisions were subsequently made to the plan based on the input received during and after the second workshop. The Board of Park and Recreation Commissioners considered the revised Master Plan for Sunflower Nature Park at a Committee of the Whole meeting on October 22 and approved the plan at its regular monthly meeting later that same evening.

The plan includes a new park entry, shelter and restroom, improvements to the paved trail, and a boardwalk along the lake.

Implementation of a new master plan for Sunflower Nature Park is subject to fund availability and board approval.